more recessed light dilemma
 

Well, I planned to have 4 recessed lights over the counter where the sink
is...and after opening a few holes in the ceiling, and finding obstructions,
I finally gave up. I basically torn down a narrow strip of the ceiling
(about 12' long and 2' wide) so I can see everything.

There are rigid conduits running along the length of that space, and joist
every 24" across it. What makes it worse is that it's not one EMT conduit
but about five that run along and a few that cris-crossed to the outdoor BBQ
area. Given that I cannot come up with three "holes" that can be situated
such that they would be evenly spaced.

There is no top cabinets, only bottom cabinets and in the middle a sink, the
rest counter space 24" deep. On the wall is a wide window about 11' wide,
and the top of the window is 26" below the ceiling.

It seems I have three options.

(1) Patch up the ceiling and wire three equally spaced 1900 boxes instead.
Just use 3 pendant lights that hangs 24" below ceiling, stop right above the
window top.

(2) Consider unequally spaced recessed lights. I don't mean spaced totally
randomly where there is room, but asymmetrically. I was able to find a few
spots, if I do 4 recessed lights, the middle two spaced 2'8" apart but the
other ones spaced 3'2" from the middle two. I marked this on the floor and
I think it looks odd.

(3) Build a 8" tall soffit from the ceiling down along the length of the
counter to hold the recessed lights. If I did that how far will the soffit
need to be? Do they need to come out as far as the counter - 24"? I assume
it's bad to have the lights directly above the head since it would cast
shadows from the person standing there. Should the lights be say 12" out if
the counter is 24" deep?

Thanks,

MC

more recessed light dilemma
 

"MiamiCuse" wrote in message
...
Well, I planned to have 4 recessed lights over the counter where the sink
is...and after opening a few holes in the ceiling, and finding
obstructions, I finally gave up. I basically torn down a narrow strip of
the ceiling (about 12' long and 2' wide) so I can see everything.

There are rigid conduits running along the length of that space, and joist
every 24" across it. What makes it worse is that it's not one EMT conduit
but about five that run along and a few that cris-crossed to the outdoor
BBQ area. Given that I cannot come up with three "holes" that can be
situated such that they would be evenly spaced.

There is no top cabinets, only bottom cabinets and in the middle a sink,
the rest counter space 24" deep. On the wall is a wide window about 11'
wide, and the top of the window is 26" below the ceiling.

It seems I have three options.

(1) Patch up the ceiling and wire three equally spaced 1900 boxes instead.
Just use 3 pendant lights that hangs 24" below ceiling, stop right above
the window top.

(2) Consider unequally spaced recessed lights. I don't mean spaced
totally randomly where there is room, but asymmetrically. I was able to
find a few spots, if I do 4 recessed lights, the middle two spaced 2'8"
apart but the other ones spaced 3'2" from the middle two. I marked this
on the floor and I think it looks odd.

(3) Build a 8" tall soffit from the ceiling down along the length of the
counter to hold the recessed lights. If I did that how far will the
soffit need to be? Do they need to come out as far as the counter - 24"?
I assume it's bad to have the lights directly above the head since it
would cast shadows from the person standing there. Should the lights be
say 12" out if the counter is 24" deep?

Thanks,

MC
I'd go for the uneven lighting pattern. As long as you can install enough
of them, symmetry isn't vital. The center of the recessed light should be
at edge of the counter, otherwise, you'll be washing your cabinets

more recessed light dilemma
 

RBM wrote:

"MiamiCuse" wrote in message
...
Well, I planned to have 4 recessed lights over the counter where the sink
is...and after opening a few holes in the ceiling, and finding
obstructions, I finally gave up. I basically torn down a narrow strip of
the ceiling (about 12' long and 2' wide) so I can see everything.

There are rigid conduits running along the length of that space, and joist
every 24" across it. What makes it worse is that it's not one EMT conduit
but about five that run along and a few that cris-crossed to the outdoor
BBQ area. Given that I cannot come up with three "holes" that can be
situated such that they would be evenly spaced.

There is no top cabinets, only bottom cabinets and in the middle a sink,
the rest counter space 24" deep. On the wall is a wide window about 11'
wide, and the top of the window is 26" below the ceiling.

It seems I have three options.

(1) Patch up the ceiling and wire three equally spaced 1900 boxes instead.
Just use 3 pendant lights that hangs 24" below ceiling, stop right above
the window top.

(2) Consider unequally spaced recessed lights. I don't mean spaced
totally randomly where there is room, but asymmetrically. I was able to
find a few spots, if I do 4 recessed lights, the middle two spaced 2'8"
apart but the other ones spaced 3'2" from the middle two. I marked this
on the floor and I think it looks odd.

(3) Build a 8" tall soffit from the ceiling down along the length of the
counter to hold the recessed lights. If I did that how far will the
soffit need to be? Do they need to come out as far as the counter - 24"?
I assume it's bad to have the lights directly above the head since it
would cast shadows from the person standing there. Should the lights be
say 12" out if the counter is 24" deep?

Thanks,

MC
I'd go for the uneven lighting pattern. As long as you can install enough
of them, symmetry isn't vital. The center of the recessed light should be
at edge of the counter, otherwise, you'll be washing your cabinets

I'd go for #1 or #3. Humans like symmetry and option #2 is likely to
drive you nuts in the long run. Suggest taping up pictures of the lights
in the asymmetric pattern so you can see how it will really look. Track
lighting would be another very flexible option.

more recessed light dilemma
 

"MiamiCuse" wrote in message
...
Well, I planned to have 4 recessed lights over the counter where the sink
is...and after opening a few holes in the ceiling, and finding
obstructions, I finally gave up. I basically torn down a narrow strip of
the ceiling (about 12' long and 2' wide) so I can see everything.

There are rigid conduits running along the length of that space, and joist
every 24" across it. What makes it worse is that it's not one EMT conduit
but about five that run along and a few that cris-crossed to the outdoor
BBQ area. Given that I cannot come up with three "holes" that can be
situated such that they would be evenly spaced.

There is no top cabinets, only bottom cabinets and in the middle a sink,
the rest counter space 24" deep. On the wall is a wide window about 11'
wide, and the top of the window is 26" below the ceiling.

It seems I have three options.

(1) Patch up the ceiling and wire three equally spaced 1900 boxes instead.
Just use 3 pendant lights that hangs 24" below ceiling, stop right above
the window top.

(2) Consider unequally spaced recessed lights. I don't mean spaced
totally randomly where there is room, but asymmetrically. I was able to
find a few spots, if I do 4 recessed lights, the middle two spaced 2'8"
apart but the other ones spaced 3'2" from the middle two. I marked this
on the floor and I think it looks odd.

(3) Build a 8" tall soffit from the ceiling down along the length of the
counter to hold the recessed lights. If I did that how far will the
soffit need to be? Do they need to come out as far as the counter - 24"?
I assume it's bad to have the lights directly above the head since it
would cast shadows from the person standing there. Should the lights be
say 12" out if the counter is 24" deep?


*Pendant lights are nice, but you won't get as much light from them as you
would with recessed. Is it possible to fit the smaller 4" recessed lights
into the existing space? On at least one occasion I had some obstacles as
well, but by switching to the 4" cans I was able to make it work and the
customer was happy.